Football Rules and Basics

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How-To Series

The American football season is different for high school, college, and pro teams. Teams at every level play during a standard season and are governed by various football leagues, such as the NFL and NCAA[more…]

After the regular football season, the NFL schedule moves into the playoffs, which ultimately lead up to the Super Bowl. In regular-season games, teams compete for the best win-loss records, and those[more…]

Making sense of the penalties in American football can be tough — unless you have a handy list of common penalties to refer to as you watch a football game. Here are some brief explanations of common penalties[more…]

To understand and enjoy American football, get familiar with key terms and what they mean. Until you grasp basic football lingo, listening to announcers call a football game can be like listening to monkey[more…]

Although the dimensions of a football field are the same, from high school to the NFL, every stadium seems different. That’s because all across America, the atmosphere inside each stadium, or the architectural[more…]

Under the instant replay challenge system, a coach who disagrees with a referee’s call can ask the referees to review that call with instant replay. (The NFL resurrected this system in 1999 after trying[more…]

It isn’t the uniform that separates one football player from the others; it’s his talent and heart. But the uniform and its protective pads are a necessary part of playing football, something any player[more…]

Every American football game starts with a coin toss. Selected members of each team (called captains) come to the center of the field, where the referee holds a coin. In the NFL, the coin toss is restricted[more…]

Because American football referees can’t always yell loud enough for the offense to hear, the referee uses signals to inform football players and fans of penalties, touchdowns, and other calls made on[more…]

In American football, referees can signal when the defense either makes an illegal play, warranting a penalty, or scores. Only a few signals are specific to the defense in a football game, but the referees[more…]

During an American football game, the referees can’t yell loud enough for a stadium full of people to hear, so the referee uses signals to inform everyone of everything that transpires on the field. Here’s[more…]

Every NFL team and most major college American football teams have a local radio station that owns the rights to the teams’ broadcasts. And because of the popularity of sports talk radio, many fans want[more…]

Depending on where you live in the United States, your child has multiple options for playing youth football. When you sign up your child for youth football, you need a copy of his birth certificate and[more…]

Some high school principals believe that football is the most important extracurricular activity on campus. Every state in the U.S. has its own high school federation or association that governs high school[more…]

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the governing body of college athletics, reports that more than 650 member colleges fielded football teams during the 2010 season. These colleges are[more…]

In 1998, six major college football conferences — ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, and SEC — instituted the Bowl Championship Series, or BCS. The BCS is a playoff system that attempts to determine[more…]

The National Football League owners and the NFL Players Association (the union that represents the interests of the players) have agreed upon certain terms when discussing the status of a football player[more…]